Translated by: TaffyGirl13
Chapter 4: The fierce soul is by your side
Samukawa briefly mentioned Qing Lin’s incident in class. However, he seemed convinced that it was a malicious attack from the student body.
“I don’t care what grudges you hold against each other, and your fights are none of my business as well. However—” Samukawa sternly swept a look across the students below the platform. “If the jokes go too overboard, don’t blame me for not holding back!”
The classroom instantly fell silent out of fear.
After giving a succinct call-out filled with intimidation and other implications, he started class.
During practice, Fu Xing quietly whispered to Flora, “I didn’t think Samukawa would actually care that much for his students!” Although the tone was a bit harsh, his complexion a bit unsightly, his vocabulary a bit strong.
“He just doesn’t want to get sent out to investigate after class hours.” Flora coldly snorted. “This morning, Samukawa’s cursing was heard all the way up to the second floor. You could tell how unhappy he was about being called to the female dorms in the early morning.”
“I see…”
Seems like Samukawa’s composition doesn’t include the element of teaching love.
After class was over, two girls purchased protection amulets from Emerald on their way back to the dorms, making the money-greedy elf overjoyed.
“Regardless of who the one that attacked the snake spirit is, I’m grateful towards them!” Emerald laughed as he placed the money into the small metal box he carried around and locked it.
They entered the male dorms and had only just stepped onto the staircase when they saw Rocort, who had returned right before them, charge towards them in a flustered manner.
“You guys have to come take a look at my room. My cookies are missing again!”
“You probably just ate them? I saw you eating during and after class just now.” Fu Xing headed up the stairs with Rocort to head towards his room.
“That was apple pie!”
Rocort explained as they walked, with both anger and sadness on his face. “The lavender cookies were a limited snack that I was planning on slowly eating…”
“Ok, ok, we’ll go and help you look for it too.”
Fu Xing placated Rocort as he continued the original conversation with emerald. “Speaking of snake spirit, Qing Lin isn’t blood-related to Xiao Qing in Legend of White Snake, right?” Ah, I’m suddenly craving zongzi.
“No.”
“Oh, I figured as much.
As expected, myths were different from reality.
“They aren’t from the same branch. Qing Lin is a northern snake spirit, while Xiao Qing is an elder of a southern race.”
“So the story of Legend of White Snake is actually true?!” Heavens, exactly how many figures he had always believed were imaginary were actually real existences?! “Emerald, you know so much!” He had not expected this guy to be so widely knowledgeable to even know legends from Oriental China so well.
“Zhu Yue spoke of it. Water-type snake spirits and land-type snake spirits have different attributes, which also affects the materials needed for protective amulets, possibly even inciting allergic reactions.” Emerald slyly smirked. “Of the amulets I sold today, three were bought by snake spirits, both land-type and water-type.”
“You really are…”
Fu Xing did not know how to respond. Fortunately, Emerald held to some business morals.
Rocort, who had originally been flipping boxes upside down in search of the cookies’ whereabouts, overheard the duo’s conversation. His attention shifted over instantly. “What Xiao Qing?”
“The story of Legend of White Snake.”
Fu Xing gave a simple description of this myth, then very skilfully switched the topic to the Dragon Boat Festival-related foods.
“Zongzi?!” Rocort was completely lost.
“Yep, they’re about this large.” Fu Xing used his hands to draw out a triangular shape in the air. “They contain meat and vegetables or bean paste. Do you want to eat them?”
“I do!” Rocort’s eyes lit up like a child excited for gifts. The matter of the cookies was already tossed to the back of his mind.
“Then let’s go to the dining hall. I heard that there’s an ubume in the kitchen; she should know how to make them.”
“Sure!”
Rocort stood with his backpack and sped out of the room first. “Let’s go!”
Emerald secretly shot Fu Xing a thumbs-up. “Good job.” He lowered his voice to praise, “I didn’t know you knew how to coax children.”
“It’s no big deal,” Fu Xing returned with a light and easy smile.
Once the three walked out of the room, they locked the door.
The room sank into quiet darkness.
The thick curtains hanging down from the sealed windows trembled unnaturally.
A pair of eyes hidden in the darkness had silently observed everything that had occurred in the room just now.
Three past midnight. The campus was covered with a dark curtain.
Despite nighttime being the period in which most of the students were active, 3 AM was the crossover between evening and morning, the moment of change similar to noontime. At this moment, most of the students had returned to their dorms.
The school was tranquil.
A girl’s figure passed through the instruction building to head towards the female dorms. In order to save time, she avoided the path to directly cross through the gloomy, thick forest.
It was too late. She should not have forgotten her homework in the classroom…but she had to submit it the next evening. If she did not rush to complete it now, she would not finish in time. She had no desire to be targeted by Samukawa!
Swish…
A faint brushing sound came from the trees. The girl warily stopped in her tracks.
“Is someone there?” Who would still be here so late?
Eh, based on the rumours, there are frequently people having secret trysts in the forest. I can’t have been unlucky enough to come across two fairies fighting in the trees, right…
“Ahem, I didn’t hear anything. I’ll be leaving now.” The girl continued on her way, prepared to quickly flee from the scene.
Crack!
A strange collision sound rang out, even closer than before.
“Who is it?” The girl looked back fearfully.
An intense white light flashed suddenly before her eyes.
Her vision was stunned, losing its functionality. The girl stiffly froze, unable to move.
The white light had gathered in front of her, blocking everything. A moment later, the bright white gradually faded to be replaced by black.
The girl’s consciousness sank into endless darkness.
10 AM. The mainly nocturnal members of Shalom were typically quiet at this time. However, today was different. There was a sizeable commotion inside the dorms, with the students either standing in the corridors or staying inside their rooms as they quietly discussed what was true and false from the tragic information.
The staff inside the school building had poor expressions, and even the professors appeared somewhat fretful during classes.
Most of the students that attending the morning’s Basic Chemistry were jingguai or descendants of elves. There were six 1-C students that had selected this course.
During a spare moment in the lab, Fu Xing quietly asked his teammates, “What happened?”
“I heard that a second-year female student was attacked.” Dan Juan raised the test tube up to eye level and squinted as he carefully poured the liquid up to the instructed marking.
“Attacked? Attacked by who? How were they attacked? What happened?” Is this the legendary bullying?!
Zhu Yue recorded notes as she replied, “2-A’s deer spirit, Rong Zhi. She was found unconscious in the forest. When she woke up, she was in a daze and her physical condition was weak, constantly vomiting. Apparently, she had gone back to the school building at night to grab homework. On the way, she saw a white light and then lost consciousness. She doesn’t remember much else afterwards…”
“Sounds pretty terrifying,” Venn and Vicki voiced in fright.
White light?
“So the perpetrator is an alien?!” That’s how it is in X-Files!
Everyone shot looks of disdain at Fu Xing.
“Eh, I was joking.” Fu Xing awkwardly chuckled. “It might’ve just been that her vision had blurred and she had eaten something bad. Why do the professors all look so anxious?”
He had thought that the junior had been painfully beaten by a senior in the bathrooms, something like burning the back of the hand with a cigarette, having their shoes thumbtacked, or having their textbooks ripped apart.
“Because this isn’t the only case.” Emerald frowned as his thoughts seemed to wander a bit. “Did you forget the green snake’s matter?”
“Qing Lin? Didn’t people say that it was an incident of revenge because of a romantic dispute?” I think it was Flora that said Senior Qing Lin had clashed face-to-face with her boyfriend’s ex before.
“No, no.” Vicki shook her pointer finger. “Tonya wouldn’t do something like that.”
“Tonya? That werewolf in our class?” The hot, cheerleading-type chick that’s always around Brad.
“That’s right.”
“But she looks…er, a bit fierce.” Like a ruthless, female gang leader-type character.
“Tonya wouldn’t secretly go against someone,” Vicki smiled sweetly. “If she really wanted to defeat Qing Lin, she would directly break the other’s neck.”
“Yep, yep.” Venn smiled as he echoed in agreement. “Or rip open the other’s stomach with her claws.”
“Indeed.” The angelic twins broke out into merry laughter.
“Um…” Is that something to be happy about?
Zhu Yue continued, “All the suspects had evidence that they were not at the scene. To be precise, in that location during that specific time period, Qing Lin was the only one there. Everyone in the female dorms had an alibi.”
“What in the world happened?” Dan Juan frowned, seemingly unhappy about the story Emerald had described.
“It’s uncertain, which is why people are uneasy.”
Fu Xing originally wanted to comment, “Qing Lin might have just slipped by herself”, but since the mood wasn’t appropriate, he obediently kept his mouth shut.
Dan Juan contemplated this for a while. He placed down the test tube and sternly stated, “They’re clearly incidents of assault, yet the school’s detection system didn’t show any abnormalities. That means the perpetrator shouldn’t have infiltrated from the outside.”
Fu Xing noticed everyone’s expressions turn serious, but he honestly could not understand why. “Er, is that a very serious matter?”
“Perhaps…”
“Even if it really is that serious, it has nothing to do with us, right?”
“Not necessarily. The other person is capable of sneaking in when the defences are increased and even harm the students. It’s clear to see that this is no ordinary figure. This kind of expert would usually be detected and locked onto by the system the moment they stepped inside the campus even if they didn’t use any ability. Yet nothing was sensed.” Dan Juan paused for a second. “However, the defensive detection spells are material systems and only respond to living beings. If the other party is a departed soul, then they wouldn’t be found.”
“Eh? A departed soul?!” How did this get stretched to that point?
“You haven’t noticed?” Zhu Yue smiled bitterly. “These two incidents both happened after we entered Sunset Forest.”
Fu Xing was taken aback. He had not at all considered that these events would have any relation to them.
“Um…”
Seems like it. But…why does it feel weird?
Isn’t that too subjective?
Dan Juan put away the test tube. Like the narrator forecasting inside a horror film, he faintly stated a disturbing conclusion.
“Perhaps we accidentally touched a forbidden door that shouldn’t have been opened.”
Is that the case? That means we caused the calamity?
Fu Xing glanced around at his serious-faced friends. He suddenly felt a sense of frustration and disappointment envelop his heart.
Everyone was so grave, so worried. It seemed that he ought to express concern as well.
However, for some reason, he instead felt removed and uninvolved. As he observed everyone’s anxiousness, he not only failed to understand it and failed to blend in with it, he even—
Was slightly fed up…with everyone acting like this.
—Don’t make me feel bored, you guys…
A silent voice quietly rang from the bottom of his heart.
What am I thinking! Fu Xing shuddered, frightened by his own thoughts.
It was impossible to feel that way!
Stop thinking nonsense, Fu Xing.
A warm hand clapped onto his shoulder.
“Don’t think too much about it, Fu Xing. If we really did cause trouble, we should have been the targets of attack instead.”
Zhu Yue noticed Fu Xing’s expression stiffen and assumed he was feeling nervous due to the topic of a departed soul. She gently comforted, “Everyone’s fine, no?”
Fu Xing returned to his senses and nodded in agreement. “Yeah! That’s right!”
Zhu Yue’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled kindly.
Seeing that face, everyone’s moods softened as well. That warmth and goodness almost felt contagious.
Fu Xing unconsciously gripped Zhu Yue’s hand as he watched her giggle.
The next second, Brad, who had been far away in the other corner of the classroom, used swift and agile movements to arrive behind Fu Xing and knocked [his head] covertly. Then, as if nothing had happened, he shifted back to his original spot.
Fu Xing cradled the back of his head as he turned to look at the culprit.
Brad, are you an elementary school student?!
However, thanks to the strike, the abnormal emotions that had been revolving around his head were forcefully dispersed.
After class ended and before they changed classrooms, Zhu Yue suddenly remembered something.
“Oh right, Fu Xing, have you seen Flora’s black backpack? Her belongings seem to have gone missing.”
Fu Xing scratched his head. “I can’t recall anything. Where did her backpack go missing?”
“She said inside the dorm, but I’m not sure.”
“Forget departed souls, what if it’s a thief?” Fu Xing tilted his head in thought. “It’s unlikely that someone who can pass through Shalom’s defence system would only steal a backpack. Unless the bag had—” Precious treasure?
“There was only camera equipment stored inside.” Zhu Yue caught onto Fu Xing’s thought process and grinned as she explained, “Besides, compared with the restriction wards Flora set up herself in the room, Shalom’s defence system is as tight-knit as a safety pin.”
“True…”
Late in the night once again. The moon was a hook that pierced through the curtain of the night. The gloomy moonlight contaminated the rich darkness.
Millions of objects were a blur under the curtain. The pure, condensed darkness now had terrifying and disturbing colours drawn out from it.
In the thicket of the most remote corner near the Forbidden Tower, a small figure swayed between the plants. A chilling spring wind blew past, the noise of the breeze carrying what sounded a bit like crying along with it, eerie and gloomy.
“Mandara, oleander…” A disjointed mutter mixed together with the rustling of the leaves. It seemed like someone murmuring to themselves, yet also like dozens of people whispering amongst each other.
“Sorry. Sorry…”
Knock, knock. The sounds of muffled thuds.
“But, the harm is necessary. For his sake…”
Whoosh!
“It’ll hurt a tiny bit, sorry.”
Knock, knock…
The wind abruptly cut off. In an instant, all that could be heard was the low sobbing.
“Fierce souls will bring about exorcists, calamity will bring about saviours. He only wants to obtain what he desires.”
The night wind attacked once more, scattered the indistinct words being spoken.
“Sorry…”
Knock, knock.
A shadow trembled, curled up, then cowered back into the area between the trees, assimilating into the darkness.
A tall and slender figure high up in the trees stared down at the agitated shadow and smirked in amusement.
Ever since hearing Dan Juan’s conjecture, Fu Xing began to suspect that the incidents of assault within the school were related to their exploration that night as well.
Although he still felt that these two matters were just a coincidence, he had no way of refuting Dan Juan’s hypothesis either, which made him feel dispirited.
Had they really caused this disaster?
That would mean, if he had stopped everyone from going on the adventure that night, these incidents might not have occurred.
Or perhaps, I shouldn’t have held a hotpot party or whatever in the first place…
But even if it’s worrying, so what? Besides, they were not the ones that had necessarily caused it either. He needed to learn from Emerald and just accept it more easily.
“I have a conscience too, alright?!” Recalling to earlier in the afternoon, Emerald had self-righteously proclaimed while counting money, “I’ve already taken the initiative to offer a sale at 85% original price!”
Should I say he’s thick-skinned or that he is beyond open-minded? Despite knowing that there was a possibility they had stirred this trouble, Emerald had not been concerned in the slightest, selling his evil-warding merchandise as usual while using absolutely any antics possible to earn money.
When Fu Xing returned to the dorm, he saw Leon sitting by the window reading a book as always. Seeing this familiar scene immediately calmed his mood by a significant amount.
“Good evening.” Fu Xing walked towards the bed area to place his backpack down. After standing by his bed and spacing out for a few seconds, he headed towards the living room to sit on the other armchair next to the window.
“Have you eaten? How have you been doing these past two days? Have you gotten used to the work of being the class representative? If you need help, let me know. Don’t hold back!” Fu Xing casually spoke to chat idly by himself as he often did.
Leon looked up to glance at Fu Xing before returning to focus back on the book.
“Today’s set meal is oden! Yayoi and the other Japanese students were very happy. Melia has recently been wanting to try using more ingredients from different countries. Apparently, she was inspired when she heard about our hotpot part! Oh yeah, Melia is one of the dining hall chefs; her first name is Veneka and she’s a fairy!” Fu Xing talked non-stop, even though his conversation partner did not respond.
“The hotpot party that day was really a great time. I’ve never been with together with so many friends before – never been that happy before.” Fu Xing recalled the fantasy-like moment, and his voice paused for a few seconds. “But it seems that it also caused some trouble as a result…”
A clearly desolate tone mixed together with the cheerfulness.
“I think I was being too greedy with just doing whatever I wanted. Mn…plus I even forced you to stay here and participate that day…” It was too wilful.
Bang.
The thick hardcover book was suddenly snapped shut. The noise pulled Fu Xing out from the depths of his thoughts.
“Leon?”
“Don’t make noise and destroy my mood to read.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“If something’s wrong, just say it directly.” Leon crossed his arms over his chest as he calmly looked at Fu Xing. “Being full of remorse will only make others feel displeased.”
“Yeah…” Ah, he had annoyed someone again.
Just as he was about to head back to his own bed area, the long marble table caught his eye, sparking a memory from not long ago.
Eh, is Leon worried about me?
He turned his head to see Leon still focusing on him. The book was shut and placed on top of the short table. It appeared that Leon did not plan on continuing to read anytime soon.
Fu Xing was overwhelmed by gratitude, so touched that he wanted to pounce at Leon and hug him. However, knowing that such an action would embarrass Leon, he held himself back.
What a difficult guy, yet so likeable too.
Fu Xing returned to his seat. “Do you know Countess Lee Kirst?”
“I do.”
“That night, we went to Sunset Forest and found her castle.”
“Rachel mentioned it to me.” Leon’s lips were pursed together into a straight line, seemingly unsatisfied with that trip. “And then?”
“Some strange things have been happening these past few days. My guess is that we might have done something in the castle that attracted bad things…”
“What ‘bad things’ are you referring to?”
“Ugh, departed souls! Like Countess Kirst’s fierce soul or something.”
“To a darkblood, Countess Kirst is [part of] a dark past, but she is already dead.”
“But apparently she was skilled in black magic and witchcraft, so…” Yeah, in any case, she was a powerful and horrid woman, so she must be very fierce after death as well.
“Considering Countess Kirst’s perseverance, she may have transformed into a powerful fierce soul. However, she has no reason to come to Shalom and provoke students. The target of her revenge is not here.”
“Er, what if, a student accidentally offended her?”
Leon raised a brow, indicating that he did not understand what Fu Xing meant and waited for an explanation.
Fu Xing awkwardly scratched his head as he shamefully admitted, “In the castle, I accidently ripped her painting with a kick…it was honestly not on purpose.” However, it had indeed been destroyed.
Leon let out a heavy snort, as if he had just heard the stupidest confession.
“I might have infuriated her because of it! Don’t they say that Countess Kirst has a very cruel personality?” Fu Xing stubbornly refuted for himself. “Maybe the next one will be me! You might wake up one day to find that the kind-hearted roommate sleeping on the other side of the wall has turned ice-cold, never to speak again!”
Leon chuckled. “Oh, sounds like something to look forward to.”
“Hmph!” Damn it, always mocking me!
“Don’t overthink it. These are just coincidences and have nothing to do with you.” Leon picked up his book and slowly flipped to the page he had already gotten halfway through earlier, indicating that their brief conversation ended here. “Also, don’t bring up the matter of Countess Kirst again.”
“Why?”
“Because some dislike hearing about it.”
“Wha—” What does that mean? Fu Xing originally wanted to ask further, but he was interrupted when he opened his mouth.
“Oh, also, since you’ve brought up that night, I have something I wish to ask you about.” Leon raised his head to look at Fu Xing with a stern gaze, like a magistrate at a court. “Why do I not have any memories from the period starting from ten that evening up until early the next morning?”
“Uh…!”
“In addition, why were my clothes askew when I woke up?”
“Uh…!”
You took them off yourself! Fu Xing wanted to say this, but when he thought about what would happen if Leon were to know what had occurred that night…
The one that would suffer a tragic end would definitely be himself.
“Could you please explain?” The voice was as cold as ice.
“Er, um…that’s….” Fu Xing avoided Leon’s gaze. After stammering for a while, he had a flash of inspiration. “It’s obviously another paranormal incident!”
Leon arched a brow.
“Your situation is just like the second-year deer spirit; you both lost your memories for a short period!” Fu Xing clapped his hands together, as if he was the leader of an investigation group that had discovered a critical point in the case. “You also suffered an attack! The loss of memories is the best proof! Maybe it’s Countess Kirst. But no matter who the other party is, it’s a curse from a fierce soul!”
Leon suspiciously scrutinised Fu Xing, not at all content with this answer. However, in that moment, he could not find strong evidence to dispute.
“Who would’ve thought that even with me present, my roommate would be harassed!” Fu Xing wrung his wrists as he lamentably blamed himself, “I’m really too ashamed! Leon, I’m sorry! I’ll properly protect you like a shepherd protects their lambs, stern yet gentle—”
“Be quiet!” Leon’s brow creased into an expression of disgust. “Get lost.”
Fu Xing feigned a hurt expression as he clutched his chest and let out a long sigh before disappointedly returned to his own bed area.
Fufu, crisis averted! Sorry, Countess Kirst!
Although the two unusual assaults occurring in succession were disturbing, a week passed without any other similar incidents. The campus returned to its usual peacefulness, and the topics related to departed souls gradually faded.
Fu Xing also felt a weight off his shoulders. It seemed that it was just a random matter that had no relation to their night adventure.
“It really was only a coincidence.” During their small group discussion time, Fu Xing happily reported this status to Emerald in his group. “No one seems to pay much attention to things like departed souls anymore.”
This class was human sociology and friendly relations, simplified to human sociology. It mainly instructed special animate beings on knowing the customs and norms of human society, as well as how to assimilate into it without detection.
The current unit focused on interpreting body language, using external observations in subtle expressions, tone, movements, etc. to infer the other party’s mood and say the appropriate words.
“Hmph…” At the moment, Emerald was displaying a perfect example of “unhappiness”. However, this was not in accordance to the class’s practice time, but an expression of his internal feelings.
“Oh! What a perfect look.” Rachel chuckled and teased, “Wrinkled brows, lips angled downwards, and wandering eyes. Arms crossed in front of chest show defensive intentions and impatience.” She read the textbook out loud to voice the classic signs. “What does this mean?”
“Oh, oh! I know!” Rocort eyed his own notes and fought to answer first. “This means that the other party is currently vexed, sullen, or even suppressing anger. It’s mostly related to issues that cause complications or finances, such as a romantic partner having interest in starting a new path, or something like a child’s blood type being abnormal, a company suffering a cash flow problem, a tax collector showing up at the door, etc.”
Rachel clapped her hands. “Correct.”
Emerald glanced at them and let out a heavy snort.
“Emerald, you don’t seem very happy? Why?” Fu Xing voiced his concern after seeing that Emerald wasn’t in the mood to joke around.
“The merchandise is selling poorly, how do you expect me to be happy?” Emerald’s tone rose in pitch as he pulled out the iPhone from his pocket and waved it in front of Fu Xing’s face. “It was only because I had my eye on this business opportunity that I purchased a batch of materials to process!”
“Oh, sounds pretty bad.”
Rachel ignored Emerald’s displeasure as she interjected without permission, “I heard you guys suspected that the night adventure attracted Countess Kirst’s fierce soul?”
“Yeah.”
She chuckled. “It can’t possibly be Countess Kirst.”
“Why?”
“Why would it be her? Didn’t you all stop to play around in other places along the way?” Rachel asked back. “Besides, if it were Countess Kirst, the incidents would not be so trivial.”
That makes sense, but… “But there were people injured. It shouldn’t be a typical case of assault.”
“They suffered minor injuries, but they’re at least still alive, no?” Rachel spoke almost as if she were laughing at herself. “Unless Lee Kirst changed into someone with a benevolent character after dying, there’s no way she would play this kind of childish game.”
That’s benevolent…?
Fu Xing suddenly realised that, while Leon and Rachel both believed the school’s incidents were unrelated to Countess Kirst, Rachel’s rational belief was that such a thing was “impossible”, but Leon’s attitude was not quite the same.
It felt as though he had not concluded it to be impossible because of certain factors, but rather a more definite conviction…
Could it be that Leon knows something?
Professor Peiris gradually neared them, so the group immediately ended their conversation and tacitly switched over to discussing the class.
Emerald propped his chin on his pen as he stared at his notes. After a long sigh, he succinctly announced, “Student He Fu Xing, if my conjecture isn’t wrong, you are currently expressing a ‘perplexed’ mood.”
Fu Xing, who had been holding his head with one hand with wrinkled brows, changed to a look of a praise. “Yes, student Emerald, that is the correct answer!”
“The body language and the contracted muscles underneath the eyes were the main determining factors.” Rachel wrote down some critical points as she explained, “Usually, someone with this expression yearns for another person’s concern, hoping for them to ask if ‘something’s the matter?’.”
“That’s correct, student Rachel.” Professor Peiris nodded in praise as he passed by Fu Xing’s group. “Absolutely perfect! Extremely outstanding! Bonus points wouldn’t be enough to express my commendation for you all!”
They all turned around, as if having just noticed the professor standing behind them. They first showed surprise, then melted into smiles overwhelmed by the favour.
“Thank you, Professor.”
This group was all veterans when it came to putting on acts; they could pass this class lying down!
The following few days were just as tranquil. The school returned to its previous calm and orderly state, operating without fluctuations.
Though the uneasiness was significantly reduced, classwork and the duties of being an Aquarius intern reserve member gave Fu Xing quite a bit of pressure—
Since the last meeting, there had been no news from Aquarius. But two days ago, when Fu Xing had nearly forgotten that he carried the burden of this responsibility, a paper notification from Aquarius was delivered to his dorm.
After dragging his exhausted feet back to his room, he saw the letter sealed with red wax like a command from above, lying on his desk.
He causally opened the envelope and skimmed through it once. The letter included some matters to take note of as well as the next meeting time. In addition, there was news that Fu Xing frown—
For the second meeting, intern reserve members were required to draft a proposal plan focused on concrete suggestions related to subjects like the academy’s growth and sustainable operations.
“What the hell?!” Disrupting civilians! This is seriously disrupting civilians! Why do something like this? Is there any meaning or practicality? This ‘cream of elites’ is just seeking self-pleasure!
As Fu Xing was complaining, a happy shout came from some other dorm room, the excitement passing through the walls and spreading through the hallway.
What happened? Fu Xing curiously opened the door and stuck his head out. All he saw were a few elves laughingly walking to the stairwell at the end of the long hallway, their discussion overflowing with self-pride and satisfaction.
Fu Xing recognised them as Aquarius intern reserve members. One of them was holding that off-white envelope, identical to the letter on Fu Xing’s desk. That glowing and spirited expression that was asking for a beating was like the look on a pampered concubine that had just been bedded.
The other students in the hallway seemed reverent and envious as they watched these people.
Fu Xing closed his door and returned to his desk to pick up the off-white envelope.
Was this clearly annoying job work being so excited over? It looked as though Grod had not misspoken – Aquarius was indeed a group that everyone wanted to squeeze into. In contrast, the indifferent attitudes of 1-C’s students were unusual.
He sighed and randomly stuffed the letter into the drawer.
Although I don’t care about it, I’ll still have to try harder for the sake of 1-C’s reputation.
The next day, after the dismissal bell for Mid-Level Mathematics class rang, Fu Xing immediately left the classroom with Isaac.
Isaac moved very quickly, seemingly disliking activity during the daytime. Thus, as soon as class ended, he rapidly gathered his belongings and dashed straight towards the dorms.
“Isaac! Wait!” Fu Xing stood near the doorway, panting from the sudden sprint. “I want to ask you about Aquarius’ business.”
“Mn…”
“There was a notification about submitting a proposal plan, have you completed it?”
Isaac shook his head.
“Then how about we do it together?” From what he could recall, the notification wrote that each class’s intern reserve members had to submit at least one proposal plan, not that each individual had to submit one.
Isaac hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“How about we meet at seven tonight at the indoor garden of the dorms’ west wing? That place has lights and is on the quieter side.” Considering the fact that Isaac disliked places with many people, Fu Xing specifically chose a more remote area.
Isaac immediately nodded, very satisfied with this discussion location.
“See you in the evening!” Fu Xing waved. “I’ll bring sweets over!”
Isaac nodded again. In that moment, Fu Xing thought he glimpsed a faint smile on that gloomy face.
This person doesn’t feel so scary anymore…
Evening, Shalom’s liveliest period. The nocturnal races began to move, while the diurnal races were relaxed after finishing their day, walking in and out of the school. This bustling atmosphere usually remained from evening to midnight.
Golden light leaked out from the palace-like dorms, like a giant treasure chest being opened. The dark indigo sky was deep and dense, similar to an Asian royal chamber’s velvet curtains.
The indoors garden of the dorm’s west wing was currently one of the few quiet places. When Fu Xing trotted into the garden carrying different-sized bags of random items, he saw Isaac’s tall and gloomy figure in the distant corner of the garden.
“Sorry! I went to grab things from the dining hall, so I’m a bit late.” Fu Xing checked his watch, which indicated it was three minutes past seven. Strictly speaking, he did not count as late. “Hm, have you waited long?”
Isaac shook his head.
“Did you eat dinner?” Fu Xing chatted as he opened the paper bags to reveal take-out boxes of sweets from the dining hall. “The chocolate doughnuts taste pretty good; the maple ones are a bit lighter. Which do you want?”
Ever since he had grown closer to Rocort, he would always bring food no matter where he went.
—How do you know when you’ll get hungry?
This was Rocort’s saying. Fu Xing had secretly been influenced into accepting this “logic”. Honestly speaking, the feeling of having something to chew on at any time wasn’t bad either.
Isaac paused for a few seconds before shaking his head again.
“You’re too polite.” Fu Xing grabbed a chocolate doughnut and held it in his mouth as he reached out to rummage through his bag for a while. He then pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper – the Aquarius notification letter, as well as a notebook. “Do you have any suggestions for the academy?”
Isaac shook his head, his eyes locked onto the tattered paper on the table.
Fu Xing noticed Isaac’s gaze and chuckled in embarrassment. “I stuffed it into the bottom of the backpack, so it ended up like that.”
He reached out to press down on it, attempting to smooth the paper that was as tattered as dried vegetables. However, he ended up smearing on the chocolate frosting on his fingers.
“Er…” Fu Xing awkwardly stared at the letter. “In any case, it’s just a notification. We shouldn’t need to hand it back for inspection, right?”
Isaac couldn’t help but let out a huff of laughter as he watched Fu Xing.
“Huh? So you can laugh.” Fu Xing turned to look at Isaac in amazement.
“Sorry.” Isaac coughed and returned to his usual quiet introversion.
“Why apologise? Being like that is better.” Fu Xing studied Isaac, happy to understand this companion more. “Although you look a bit intimidating on the outside, you’re actually a good, kind-hearted person!”
“Not really,” Isaac denied in a low voice, as if muttering to himself. “Not good…very dangerous…”
“You’re so polite.” Fu Xing assumed Isaac was just being humble. He went on to continue, “Alright, let’s not get too off-topic and finish work first. Hm, let me think…how do you feel about adding a peddler on every instruction building?”
Isaac hesitated for a second. “That might not be very appropriate.”
“Yeah, that’s true. Emerald wouldn’t have any business that way.” He did not want to offend a friend. “Then how about lowering student fees?”
“Shalom has free entry, and every person receives stipends.”
“Ah, that’s right.” He had forgotten that this was not a human school.
Fu Xing scratched his head in vexation, unable to come up with any ideas. To someone like him that had spent his life in human schools, Shalom was as perfect as Heaven. He truly could not come up with any place the academy would have to improve.
“Such a pain!” Damn it, this task is just deliberately making things difficult on us!
It’s not like I care about the Aquarius rank anyways, might as well just let it rot away entirely!
“Why not suggest a co-ed dorm! In order to implement equal gender rights, promote life lessons, boost race inclusiveness, etc…list out all the high-sounding reasons, then go and change the baths to a combined one too! That should be bold enough, right? A super major change!”
“Absolutely not!” Isaac agitatedly rejected, both hands slamming down on the table as he nearly shot up from his seat.
“Ah!” What are you so upset for?!
Realising he had lost control, Isaac hurriedly returned to his previous sitting posture. “So-sorry. I just think that this suggestion might not be the best…”
“That-that’s true too. It’ll be a disaster If we anger Aquarius.” Scared me to death! It seemed as though Isaac’s personality was not as simple as introverted. Fu Xing would have to be more cautious still. “Then what parts of the academy do you think are bad? Or places that you dislike?”
Isaac was silent for a while before slowly saying, “Sunset Forest.” His fingers twitched uneasily. “I heard that there are many bad spots in there…”
Fu Xing recalled the circumstances of the night adventure, as well as the disturbances that had occurred several days ago, and he felt his heart twinge in distress.
“Yeah. It’s true that it isn’t a great place.” After a few seconds’ pause, a flash of inspiration hit him. “Why don’t we suggest re-evaluating Sunset Forest? Rather than letting the students make up things about that place, it’s better to simply get a clear idea of the inside layout, notifying everyone what kind of dangers it contains. That way, it can not only resolve everyone’s curiosity and fear, but also prevent people from entering the dangerous areas. Didn’t Grod also mention before that the greatest source of fear was the unknown?”
Isaac nodded in agreement, the corners of his lips lifting upwards as he looked at Fu Xing. “That sounds great.”
“Hehe, it’s nothing. You’re not a bad person.” Despite being a bit strange, Fu Xing had at least confirmed that Isaac was a good person!
The two discussed for a while, exchanging ideas and gathering all the words together. The proposal plan progressed bit by bit as they continued to edit it.
Fu Xing propped his head up with his hands as he watched Isaac copy the messy draft onto the paper Shalom dedicated to documents.
Graceful lines flowed out from the tip of the fountain pen. Isaac’s writing was beautiful, proper and refined, a complete contrast from his rough looks. In contrast, Fu Xing’s writing was identical to his appearance; although he could write neatly, it was like the handwriting on a child’s homework, carrying a juvenile clumsiness that made it seem unlike the writing of an “adult”.
“Your writing is very pretty! Did you practice it before?”
“I often copied books in the past, from the Holy Bible.”
“Why?”
Isaac paused for a few seconds. “…To calm my mood and cleanse my heart.”
Fu Xing nodded, not having much interest in this topic. He stretched his waist and lazily leaned back against his chair. His body tilted backwards, and he raised his head to stare at the tree branches above him that had started to bloom white blossoms.
Spring’s almost here…
As if replying to Fu Xing’s thoughts, a pale pink flower petal left the branch and floated down.
Fu Xing reached out to grab the petal and pinched at its short stem, fiddling around with it for a while. Then, a senseless idea flashed through his head.
“Isaac, Isaac, look.” Fu Xing stuck the flower behind his ear, feigning humility by covering his mouth as he chuckled. “Isn’t it pretty? Hehehe….”
Isaac glanced up and was momentarily stunned. Then his expression morphed into one of fear and his body abruptly shot backwards, the pen in his hand nearly falling to the ground. However, after a second or two, he blinked in astonishment as if having noticed something, then slowly returned to his seat as he stared at Fu Xing.
“What-what’s wrong?” Had he stepped on the other’s Achilles heel? He knew that some people were extremely disgusted by cross-dressing. Isaac isn’t like that, is he…
Isaac seemed to carefully scrutinised Fu Xing like an archaeologist inspecting a specimen. “You look like a girl like this…”
“Sorry for being so ugly for you to recoil like that.” Fu Xing realised that his actions had been stupid, and he reached up to take the flower off.
Shame always appeared only after saying an embarrassing joke or doing something foolish.
Isaac shook his head. “That’s not it.”
Trembling with fear, Isaac extended his sturdy palms, as if about to reach into a terrifying mystery box, and he gently touched Fu Xing’s cheek. The moment his fingertips made contact, they flinched away as if burned. However, after freezing for a second, they shifted back to lightly touch the dumbstruck face.
“Er, is something the matter?”
What’s going on now?! He felt that there something a bit wrong with this atmosphere.
Isaac smiled. “Very cute.” He then picked up the flower. “Similar, but not…so it’s very good.”
“What’s similar?”
Isaac did not respond. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, “Girls are like flowers. Beautiful, but very weak.”
“What about me then?”
Is this guy actually just praising me in a roundabout way? Ahhhh! So embarrassing!
Isaac paused for a second and chuckled. “Fu Xing…is a plastic flower.”
The smile on Fu Xing’s face turned stiff. “What the hell! Is that praise?” Fu Xing jokingly threw a punch at Isaac’s arm. “Damn it, calling me a plastic flower? You’re a man-eating flower then! No, you’re a tropical pitcher plant!”
“How could you say that…” Isaac dryly laughed.
The two fooled around for a while, eating the doughnuts Fu Xing had brought while completing the uninteresting task.
Special Ability Theory and Application. As if conforming to the previous minor disturbances, the course this week dived into departed souls and defence against curses.
“Every life form has a soul. The soul is the source that powers every operation of the body, like an appliance and its battery. When the life reaches the end of its path, the soul will leave the body in the material world and advance beyond to the spirit realm. There, it will exist symbiotically with gods, mythical beasts, and other transcended souls. If the soul is unwilling to leave the material realm, it will wander around this world and become a ghost, or what we call a spectre. This type of soul typically does not have much influence on the material world.”
Grod was the professor responsible for covering the theory portion. As if affected by the cold and wet spring weather, his expression was lazy, his tone flat, giving a sleep-inducing effect.
“…If the soul has a unique attribute and remains in some type of intense emotion until death, such as love, resentment, or regret, then the soul will become a departed soul. Emotions will allow the soul to possess physical power that can directly disrupt things of the material realm. Sometimes it’s a simple physical attack, such as a supernatural phenomenon. However, more powerful fierce souls can use their spiritual power to attack people, which is also called a curse.”
Fu Xing yawned as he rested his head in his hands and absent-mindedly noted the important points in his notebook.
So boring…why teach these things?
“The souls of special animate beings are different from the typical life form. For example, the jingguai type is a combination of two different types of life forms. As a result, its soul after death is also unique. The souls of any special animate being will never stay in the mortal realm. As a result, it is impossible for departed souls from special animate beings to exist.”
Either intentionally or not, Grod’s tone emphasised this point, seamlessly hinting that the previous rumours were all baseless falsities.
“Why?” One student raised their hand to ask.
“Don’t know, go ask God.” Grod gave this very insincere answer. It was unclear if he truly did not know, or if he was just too lazy to explain.
“Departed souls have supernatural abilities and can occasionally be evenly matched with a special animate being’s special ability. Thus, departed souls are an extremely formidable weapon on the battlefield. However, forcibly controlling departed souls requires a soul to resonate with the departed soul. Only humans can control human souls. Special animate beings typically do not have this power. The exceptions are a select few jingguai types or shaman-based sorcerers. Powerful shamans can even communicate with souls from various realms.”
At this point, Grod grinned with a conceited look. “The lowly me is one such person.”
Oh, how powerful. Fu Xing yawned again. However, he seriously could not understand how this was important.
The boring class continued for fifty minutes before finally ending.
Fu Xing stretched his waist as he walked down to the next Biology classroom and warmed up his stiff limbs. “Why do I feel like Special Ability class is getting more and more boring?” He thought that the part about special animate beings from last semester was more interesting.
“Is it? I find it more interesting,” Momiji chuckled. She was taking the same [Biology] class.
Though the weather was cold and wet, Momiji still wore the uniform top and a short skirt, exposing her long bare legs as usual. She wore cinnabar-coloured wooden clogs and her long black hair was casually coiled up at the back of her head, set in place by a Japanese-styled accessory.
Her confidence mixed together with her flirtatiousness held a different type of intimacy that differed from Zhu Yue.
“If we can’t use it, why learn this?”
Taeharu peeked her head out from next to Momiji. “Because White Triangle always uses this against us.”
“What?!” Fu Xing was shocked by this answer. “I thought they were a group of people that loathed anything supernatural…”
“That’s true. To them, departed souls and curses are just tools. These render us more helpless than any other attacks. I originally wasn’t interested in this either, but White Triangle’s influence has been gradually seeping into Japan, so I have no choice but to understand this.” Momiji forced a bitter laugh. “In the past, fox spirits were respected like gods.”
“That’s right, that’s right.” Taeharu giggled brightly at Fu Xing. “But Momiji is so pretty that even if no one knows you’re a fox spirit, they will still obediently give offerings to you! There are all those shiny gems and that large car!”
“That doesn’t count.” Momiji scratched her head in embarrassment.
Fu Xing chuckled dryly. He was really curious about what kind of “believers” would be so magnanimous.
“Special animate beings really cannot turn into departed souls? Not even spectres?”
“That’s typically the case, but it’s not absolute. In any case, the chances are extremely low.”
That means…For some reason, an uneasiness attacked Fu Xing’s heart.
“Then, could the previous incidents of the departed soul hauntings be related to White Triangle?”
“That’s impossible.” Momiji shook her hands and replied matter-of-factly, “The school defences are so strict that there’s no way a human could infiltrate without detection. Besides, there aren’t any departed souls at Shalom in the first place!”
“True…”
It wasn’t just Leon and Rachel. Just now, Grod had directly denied the possibility of Shalom being haunted. Regardless of what angle one looked at it from, everything appeared to testify that it was just everyone fussing over nothing.
However, there was something that puzzled Fu Xing: Why was Momiji’s attitude so certain?
Momiji shifted her charming eyes to exchange a smile with Taeharu. The two giggled together as the entered the classroom. As usual, they sat in the furthest corner and began to chat quietly amongst themselves.
~Taffy Translations~ 